Cherry Bustin' Time on the Smoke EZ and Chicken Thighs

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nwdave

Master of the Pit
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
The equipment

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The process:  My go to when I make last minute decisions on what to smoke.  Stubbs Chicken Marinade (this time 6 hours in the marinade).  And a great rub that I use on poultry.

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The guests of honor.  6 bone-in, skin still in place, dusted with the rub, warming up while working on the fire pit.

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Looking into the fire chamber.  This run was with Kingsford Competition, laid out around the outside of the fire ring, burning counterclockwise.  That's a few Apple chips scattered around the top.

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We're at about 2 hours in.  Added the bell peppers for a future project.  Chicken was spritzed with a combo of Apple Juice-6oz/Yoshida's Gourmet-4oz (obviously not all used) about every 30 minutes, or more accurately, when I remembered to do it.

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Pulled off and resting. 

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And the money shot.  Nice smoke ring and moist.  SWMBO had seconds, which for her is very rare.

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Observations:

 I've read that new WSM's tend to run hot while still "new".  That was certainly true with the Smoke EZ.  I had a heck of a time getting it below 250 at the top grid, monitored with an ET-732.  I think 2 factors were at play:  A.  New.  B.  Perhaps I laid too many briqs (depth wise) around the fire ring.  In fact, I'm almost certain of it.  Next run will be with just a double layer and see what happens, unless I get some sage advice from more experienced SMF'ers.  I throttled the air flow down at the bottom vents by just barely having a crack of opening to plain just shutting it off to get any type of temp drop.  I did the temp drop trick of removing the top cover for a short time, about 15 seconds, but the temp would rise back up.  Tells me that temp recovery will be fast when spritzing or rotating meat or whatever.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the Smoke EZ married up to the Weber OTG.  Excellent results out of the starting gate.  Like any new piece of equipment, there's going to be a learning curve but once I get tuned in to the "quirks" of this smoker and charcoal smoking as a whole, all I can see is bright sunny days and birds singing and peace on earth and.... (well I can always hope for peace on earth).

Thanks for following along.  And thanks now and in the future to all you WSM gurus for passing along a ton of information to help make this such a success.

~Dave
 
I got a Smoke EZ a few months ago and it is the BEST!  Here's what I've done to get the low temp under control:

1. Academy Sports has a replacement charcoal grid that is a solid plate with holes poked in it.  I got it because I much prefer lump charcoal to briquets and it allows you to use it without all the small pieces falling through the grate.  It also helps restrict airflow to keep the temp low.

2. I use lump and hickory chunks - easy to keep a 250 fire going for 9 hrs - perfect for a butt.

Good luck with yours - it's really worth it to use the lump and the solid grid is only like $3 at Academy.
 
Hey Mark,  thanks for the lead on the solid/holy plate.  I'll have to wait until we make our annual trip to Denver to get one. No Academy's within a hundred miles that I know of.  I know the big box stores like Lowe's don't have it.  Scored another charcoal grid for the weber and I've rotated it at 90* to the bottom grid.  It helps.  I'm really liking the SMOKE EZ, sure works great.  Next is the Weber Rotisserie which I just received.  Smoked meat on the rotisserie  and I have the rib-o-later to go on the rotisserie.  Now all I need is a battery operated rotisserie motor and I'm good to go for camping without having to fire up the Honda gennie.
 

I feel honored that you used your first post on this site to contact me about the Smoke EZ.  Welcome aboard.  You need to go over to the newcomers section and introduce yourself to the rest of the guys and gals so they can properly welcome you.

~Dave
I got a Smoke EZ a few months ago and it is the BEST!  Here's what I've done to get the low temp under control:

1. Academy Sports has a replacement charcoal grid that is a solid plate with holes poked in it.  I got it because I much prefer lump charcoal to briquets and it allows you to use it without all the small pieces falling through the grate.  It also helps restrict airflow to keep the temp low.

2. I use lump and hickory chunks - easy to keep a 250 fire going for 9 hrs - perfect for a butt.

Good luck with yours - it's really worth it to use the lump and the solid grid is only like $3 at Academy.
 
Think I'll do that!  My wife and I are NASCAR nuts - we camp in the infield and cook all weekend.  I'm taking this thing to Talladega in 2 weeks and plant to cook extra so I can pass some around and see what folks think.  I'm even thinking about entering some competitions now.....and this Smoke EZ will let me cook everything on one fire.  I LOVE this thing!
 
Great looking Chicken Dave. You continue to produce great looking qview - congrats man.
 
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